Revisiting Duke - Genesis: It's actually good.

I like this one. I'm more of Gabriel-era and early Collins-era fan, but I do really like Duke and Genesis. I like that those records are "art pop" rather than just straight synth-pop. It helped them age better IMO.

 

I think there's a good reason they didn't put the suite on one side: You would've had all the divorce songs on side two, which would've contained four ballads running five-minutes each (plus Misunderstanding and Man of Our Time, which aren't too upbeat either). Even for three guys facing midlife crises, that would've been a bit much!.

 

Definitely the best album of the trio era and the last really good album Genesis would produce, but it also paved the way for the pop years where the line between Phil's solo albums and Genesis albums became very blurry indeed. It was all a little too much Phil for me at the time, but I had moved on to Peter's far superior solo albums by then. To each their own, of course.

 

Love everything about it...except the cover

 

Geez Louise (Is the Reverend hard to please?), Genesis fans are hyper-critical. I love Duke, Abacab, 'self titled,' any Gabriel era record, whatever. The only Genesis I don't care for is about half of Invisible Touch and all of Calling All Stations. And I can still sit through Invisible Touch, its just a bit too 'top 40' for me.

Anyway, Duke is great. I even own the lp. (And I only own 6 lps) Especially the climax of the album with Duke's Travels. Misunderstanding is blah, I agree, but that's 3 minutes out of 55.

 

So now that plenty of people are raving about it, which is the very best way to listen to this album?

Vinyl? CD? Which pressing?

One thing I always hated was that weird guitar bit at the very end of Misunderstanding which was removed with remasters and thankfully so.

 

Have you not heard "Calling All Stations"?? I think it's a fine record myself, and in many respects continues where Duke left off, IMO.

 

Great! The 2007 remix/remaster is garbage.

 

I hate to be one of those guys, but I'd like to think Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford regret not leaving We Can't Dance as the true final studio album.

 

Not on vinyl it isn't.

 

The 5.1 kicks ass.

 

I always thought Fading Lights was a great "farewell" final song.

 

I always thought Duke was the last solid Genesis album. After it I felt they became too pop and their tunes got played into the ground during the height of the MTV era. Although, I love Driving the last spike off of We Can't Dance. Reminds me of W&W stuff.

 

I doubt that it will ever happen, but I would love it if they would release the Duke Suite as a 12" 45 RPM. Lines/Duchess/Guide on side 1, Turn it on Again/Travels/End on side 2. It would work perfectly both musically and within the time constraints of the format.

It could even be a "testing the waters" project for Steven Wilson to see if there's enough demand to replace the Nick Davis remixes that got over compressed in the mastering.

 

I would want Heathaze in there too at least..

 

General consensus seems to be that the best CD of Duke is the original Virgin/Charisma 1980s issue.
For vinyl, try UK, German, Japanese pressings, I have a Canadian copy that sounds quite nice too.
I may pick up a 2007 remix vinyl based on some recommendations here, not many are fond of the regular CD layer of that version...

 

I prefer Calling All Stations to most of We Can't Dance. Although I think they should have bowed out with Invisible Touch, it was their last consistently good album.

I think Duke is easily the best of the trio albums. I think of it as an art rock record rather than prog, but that's nitpicking. I wouldn't change a thing about it, including "Misunderstanding". A great tune, IMO.

 

Any details you could give me? Looking into perhaps buying Duke and We Can't Dance but I have a hard time thinking they could especially improve the sonics of WCD.

I have no problem believing the vinyl 2007 sounds better than the original but I'm wondering how so, if you wouldn't mind posting your mini-review of a comparison between the two?

 

As it's a 55-minute album, I never found an original which didn't seem too thin to my ears or didn't suffer from IGD. (Bear in mind I can only speak about US originals.)

There's more bottom end on the 2007, which was 1/2 speed mastered at Abbey Road. No IGD or distortion in busy sequences. It's just a clean, vibrant, robust listen.

 

Yeah, it is a good album, sort of like XTC's Nonesuch is a good album. And before you say, "That makes no sense to me", what I mean is that it's a really well-crafted, sort of under the radar album (at least to me) that really does its own thing, and inhabits its own space. Of course, "Misunderstanding" was a bit of a hit (No. 14 in the U.S.) as was " The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" (No. 1 on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks (which meant something in 1992)), but how many people who dug those songs actually bought the associated albums? I bet not many, really.

 

Thanks for bringing absolutely nothing to the thread whatsoever. Oh for a Phil Collins and Genesis thread where some clown doesn't make an American Psycho reference

Lighten up. A great (AND I MEAN GREAT!!!), unexpected, and funny tribute to Genesis in a movie that might have inspired many
non Genesis fans to give them a serious listen to.

 

Surprised so few have sung the praises of Turn It On Again. This is a really remarkable track in that it is both very catchy and very progresssive, with odd time signature moves and a slew of chords and inversions.

Got to perform that with a band a few years ago which was a load of fun.

 

I think Duke was for sure a transitional album. It obviously bridged the democratic and progressive eras of Gabriel and Collins
fronting the bad to the '80s pop blah Genesis evolving into what was so much The Phil Collins Band and not Genesis. Duke was
the last hoorah. Abacab was the start of the Phil Collins Band and the mantra of every Genesis-privy SAT-taker and no more
the Genesis everyone loved up to that point. Care to differ? I love all Genesis up till Abacab & beyond. Yes, I do enjoy some
post Duke Genesis, but very little. Much like post Roger Waters Pink Floyd that was more David Gilmour Band and not even
close non-Waters Floyd...

 

The point I'd disagree with here is the idea of "The Phil Collins Band." Both Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks were steering in a decidedly AOR direction in their respective solo careers. It's not like they were still putting out "Supper's Ready (Part X)" on their own albums and then just rehashing "Hold on My Heart" for every Genesis release after Duke. Granted, I'm sure Phil's success registered to them, but it's never sounded like he was twisting any arm or holding any serious monopoly of power in the band during their last years.

Proof in the pudding, as far as I'm concerned, is Calling All Stations. I dig the album, but barring the change in vocals, it's not such a massive sea change from what had gone before.

 

Don't get that from CAS. Continuing in a successful course that brought them millions is different from changing to thst course from what they had done before.